Welcome to Hell
by kendershire
Summary: Ed and Al are thrown through the Gate into Sunnydale on a crazy quest to finally regain Al's body. Will secrets and mistrust between the Elrics and the Scoobies be their downfall?
1. Falling to Pieces

So howdy folks! This is the second thing I'm putting out here on the interwebs and I must say I picked quite the undertaking! This story will be very long, and span through many universes, following Ed and Al as they hop through different worlds. The first is, obviously, Buffy. I'm using a mix of original and Brotherhood series, so please just bear with me on that and pretend it is relevant to the plot. The Buffy-verse is taking place post-sixth season, but Spike is there with a soul and the whole First thing hasn't started up.

I own nothing but wish that I did. Why else would I be writing a silly crossover fanfic?

Here's the story. Please don't hate me too much.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter One**

**Falling to Pieces**

The world was stark white as far as the eye could see. Ed knew without a doubt where he was: the Gate. This was wrong. This had to be a dream—no—a nightmare. Why was he here? He hadn't attempted a human transmutation, not this time. Yet as he turned, there it stood in all its blackness. The Gate.

"Why am I here?" he whispered into the emptiness.

"Brother?" the voice was so faint.

"Al?" Ed twirled around, frantic. Where was his little brother? If the gate had hurt him-

"I'm here brother!"

There he was, suddenly materializing out of the whiteness as if emerging from a thick fog. The sudden appearance of the suit of armor filled Ed's heart with self-loathing, amplified by their current location. It was all his fault, after all, no matter how much Alphonse protested.

"Does it hurt to look at him?" The voice rang, sickening, in Ed's head. "To see your ultimate sin every time you look at your dear little brother? To feel it every time you walk, or lift your arm?"

"Shut up." He growled.

"Now is that any way to talk to an old friend, Edward Elric?"

"I said, shut up!"

A dark chuckle reverberated in his mind and sent shivers down his spine. "Poor Edward Elric. So broken, so small."

"What the hell did you just call me?"

This time it was a whisper in his ear that made his blood run cold. "I called you short."

"Bastard!" Ed swung at the dark figure that danced away. The grin that dominated his darkest nightmares leered out from a pitch black face.

"Brother stop!" Al grabbed a hold of Ed, keeping him from the dark being of the Gate.

"I suppose if you don't want to hear my offer I can just send you back. But if you do that you know, of course, that I would have to exact a toll." The grin grew from just plain creepy to downright freakish, stretching to an inhuman size on the being's face: a gaping hole of malice.

"You mother-"

"Edward!" Al shouted, holding on tighter against his struggling brother, but careful not to crush him with his large armor plates. The Gate had screwed around with them too many times. It was irrational to try and attack it, he knew that, but the damn creature just made Ed so mad.

"Ed!" Alphonse's voice shocked Ed from his rampage. "The Gate is right. We don't really have another choice. We have to listen to what he has to say. Please, just calm down."

"Fine," he snarled, and Al slowly released him. Ed took a deep breath to regain his temper. He needed to be more careful, or both of them could die. "Okay. Why are we here? What could you possibly need from us?"

"The laws of existence are being tampered with by the Homunculi. They are messing with the multiverse. If I do not take action, everything will unravel, even me."

"Multiverse?" What was the Gate talking about?

"Alternate realities, Edward Elric." The Gate sneered. "The Homunculi dabbled with forces beyond their reckoning. They are now scattered throughout the multiverse, wreaking havoc. They do not belong in those worlds, however, and will tip the balance of existence because they themselves are mistakes in the first place, loophole creatures so to speak. I need champions. Kill them in whatever way you see fit, I don't care, just erase their existence from those other worlds."

"And what makes you think we will just be your champions you sick fu-"

"Alternate worlds?" Alphonse cut in, "You mean like, other versions of us?"

"Sometimes," the Gate gave the younger Elric an exasperated glance. "But most likely the places you go will be nothing like yours. Different geography, cultures, laws of physics and magic as well. Every world has its own set of rules so you had better get used to that right away."

"Who said we are going?" Ed was furious. Why the hell would he ever help this abomination? After everything he had lost to the Gate? No way.

"YOU THINK YOU HAVE A CHOICE?" the roar was so loud that Ed fell to his knees, ears ringing. The rage was gone as quickly as it came and once again the Gate spoke with that softer menacing tone that freaked Ed out so much. "Your reality works on equivalency, Edward Elric. Those rules bind me as well for dealings with your world. When you do this for me, I will of course give you something in return."

An inkling of hope ignited. The Gate couldn't mean- there was no way. He shouldn't even be getting his hopes up like this but-

"Do you want your baby brother's body back, Edward Elric?"

More than anything in the world.

"If you fail me, the consequences will be far worse than the toll for coming here, remember that little alchemist."

More than his own life.

"I'll provide transportation when you need it as part of the exchange."

There was no hesitation.

Al could see the decision in his brother's golden eyes. "Brother wait!"

"You've got yourself a deal."

"Good choice Edward Elric."

"Al we can't pass this up-" Ed started. Then the doors to the Gate swung open to reveal the gaping maw of the universe, he felt himself pulled in. Closer and closer. Soon he would be inside. Turning back to the grinning creature, he said "You had better keep your half of the bargain!"

Then he was inside the Gate. There were colors everywhere, swirling and spinning all around him. Was he going to be sick? Where were they going? Had he just made a huge mistake?

"Edward!" his brother screamed.

"Al?" he turned and stared in horror as Alphonse began to disappear. It was just like before, all those years ago, the armor crumbling away into little flecks of nothingness.

"It hurts!" his precious little brother shrieked in agony. "Help me!"

"Al! Al! No! Al!"

Ed couldn't see him anymore. There was so much movement. Were the colors the things moving or was it him? Both? None? Where was Al?

"You bastard! You lied to me! Give him back! Al! Give him back! Alphooooooooonse!"

Everything faded away. Everything.


	2. Something Gained

Wow! A second chapter! You can thank my awesome friends for being slave drivers and forcing me to work instead of goofing off on tumblr. Now is where we start meeting our lovely cast.

Of course nothing belongs to me. Le sigh.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Two**

**Something Gained**

It had been eons, or maybe it was only seconds. Time no longer mattered. He had forgotten sensation, or at least he might have. At any rate the sudden remembrance of sensation, in the form of a distinct falling feeling, came as quite a shock to him. The feeling of falling, and then the feeling of impact. At least he was pretty sure that's what he was feeling, if it was indeed feeling that he was doing.

Eyes. He should open his eyes. He did have eyes, didn't he? Yes he did. Good. And hands and feet. No, wait. Not hands and feet. Hand. And foot. He couldn't feel the others. There was also a certain emptiness in his chest. Not literally, he thought. It was more of an emotional sensation. He hoped it was more of an emotional sensation. He had just lost something, something very important to him. What was it? Where did the emptiness come from?

Full awareness punched him in the gut and left him breathless. Everything rushed back with the force of a hangover mixed with a tornado.

Even though his eyes were now open, everything was comprised of dark blurs. A voice, unfamiliar, was trying to say something to him over the ringing in his ears.

"Are you okay?" the words finally came across. Ed blinked his eyes a few time and managed to focus in on the person. It was a woman with short red hair. "Guys, he's awake!"

More voices, further off, called out.

"Where the heck did he come from?"

"Is he a vampire?"

"What do you think, Buffy?"

"Kind of busy slaying at the moment!"

Ed groaned, but managed to sit up. Bad idea. The world swam around, but he grit his teeth. This pain was nothing. The woman reached out with a hand but hesitated, clearly worried about touching him. Upon closer inspection of his surroundings, he realized he was in a graveyard. The tombstones loomed out in the darkness. A few meters away, Ed could hear the commotion now, was a full-out brawl.

The numbers seemed about even, but it was clear that the group of men in equally tattered clothes had the upper hand, except for a blond haired woman.

"Watch out Willow!" the blonde shouted as a figure broke out from the group and headed straight for Ed. The redhead was bowled out of the way and the man pounced on the still-disoriented Edward. He got an up-close-and-way-too-personal look at his assaulter. This was no human, that much was clear. His face was distorted and he had quite the set of chompers. The freaky thing was the man's eyes. Somehow Ed just knew that this man- this thing- was evil. It had no soul.

With that in mind, Ed let his years of military training kick in. First priority was to get the creature off of him. Pulling his knees up and kicking out sent the thing flying. Ed was on his feet and in a fighting stance by the time the thing recovered. "Pretty ugly, aren't you?" Edward grinned, and the not-human snarled before leaping at him again.

Ed crouched and pulled back before delivering a hard punch to the thing's gut. As the creature fell forward Ed placed his hands on its shoulders and pulled his knee up into the already injured midsection. It made a grab for him and he quickly somersaulted backwards. His hits had little effect, apparently. Was this thing some kind of homunculus?

As the fight continued, Ed's mind was racing. Between kicks, punches, ducks, and dodges, he tried to make sense of the situation. This was an alternate world. Some sort of soulless monster was attacking him. Would alchemy even work here? Where was Al?

Alphonse.

Sudden fury overtook him. What the hell had happened to his little brother? The next hit smashed into the monster's jaw. There was a sickening crunch indicative of a neck snapping. But the creature was still alive, head flopping around sickly on a broken spine.

And then the monster turned into a pile of dust.

The blonde woman stood behind where the creature had just been, a wooden stick in her hand. "Are you all right?"

"Fine." Ed stepped back warily and brushed the dust off of his signature red coat. "What was that thing?" The rest of the creatures were nowhere to be seen. Were they dust now too?

"You mean you don't know about vampires?" the redhead asked. "It's just-well-you came out of a glowy portal thing so I figured you were hip on vampires and magic and stuff."

There were vampires in this world, and magic. Good to know. Ed stored that knowledge away.

Alphonse.

Ed gasped. "Please!" he turned to the blonde girl, desperate. "is there a suit of armor around here? A big suit of armor? I need to find him!" He began to search among the tombstones, frantic, calling out, "Al! Alphonse? Where are you? Al! Please!"

He didn't look to see if anyone was actually helping him. It didn't really matter. There was a sinking feeling, despair, welling up inside of him. Al was probably not even there, a captive of the Gate or even worse. He had seen the suit of armor disappear.

Alphonse was gone.

"Hey!" called one of the men. "Well uh it's not a suit of armor, kid, but there is a um a naked boy here. Passed out."

Numbness filled his brain. There was no way. No way in hell. His body was so heavy, his heartbeat erratic. Thinking was impossible. His voice was not working very well, and all he could manage was a hoarse "Al?"

Running, or at least trying to run to the mausoleum the man pointed behind, he fell to his knees at the sight of his little brother, his tiny form lying there in the dirt. "Al is that really you?" The tears were there, just on the verge of spilling out. His voice was quivering like a life in a gale. The figure groaned and he scrambled forward. "Al! Talk to me! Al?"

"Ed…ward?" he still wasn't fully conscious.

"I'm right here, Al." Ed was full on crying now; he could feel the wetness sliding down his cheeks. The strangers were gathering near them, but he didn't spare them more than a brief moment of thought. All he could manage was to hold his little brother, his whole flesh and blood brother, in his arms and sob.

"What's wrong, Ed?" Alphonse croaked.

"No-nothing's wrong." He choked and found he could not continue.

Al lifted a frail hand up to touch a tear on Ed's face. Ed watched as his brother noticed his own hand. Light golden eyes widened in shock and uncertain realization. Concentrating on the foreign appendage before him, he slowly clenched and unclenched his hand into a fist. Then he wiggled his fingers. "I can feel, Ed." He whispered in sheer wonderment. "I have a hand."

"Yes you do." Ed smiled. For the first time in years, he truly smiled from the bottom of his heart.

"Need to find… Gracia… promised… apple pie…" Al's exhaustion finally took over and he lost consciousness again.

The fatigue of traveling through the Gate was overwhelming, and it took all of Edward's strength to remain upright. He needed to get somewhere safe, so he and Al could rest. There was a homunculus out there. It could be watching them at that moment.

The blonde's voice cut through his thoughts. "As touching of a reunion as that was, I really need some answers now."

"I will," he agreed. "I'll tell you what I can, but not here."

"Well I can't really help you if you don't-"

"We aren't safe here. Something other than us came through the portal. My brother is very vulnerable right now. Take us somewhere safe and I will talk."

"They both look pretty bad," the redhead put in.

"Fine," the blonde sighed. "Call up Giles and see if you can get a hold of Anya. She knows a lot about interdimensional stuff. Spike and Xander, help carry-"

"No!" Ed gripped Al tightly. "He's my little brother and I- I thought I'd lost him. I can't-" The idea of someone else touching Alphonse's newly recovered body was revolting to him. Alphonse was too fragile right now for him to just let go. "I can carry him. I'm fine, totally fine."

Staggering to his feet, Ed carried his little brother to the strange automobile the redhead led him to. The first part of the ride was filled with awkward silence. The man who had found Alphonse drove, and the boys took up the back seat. The redhead kept glancing back at them.

"Thanks," he finally managed, "For your help." He wasn't very good at these sorts of things. He almost never asked for help, let alone thank someone for it, and yet that night he had done those things more times than he could count.

"Don't worry," the woman smiled. "With Buffy helping, everything will be fine. She kind of slays monsters for a living." That information was stored for processing at a later time when he wasn't so damn tired. There was something strange about the way people were talking to him. Was it simply the way people talked in this universe?

"Yeah, with the Buffster on the case, you can just sit tight kid."

And there it was. Kid. It had been so long since anyone had mistaken him for a child. In this world his pocket watch would hold no sway.

Deciding a sarcastic remark would not be appropriate; Ed held his tongue for the rest of the trip. He thought about what he had seen so far. It was key that he adjusted to this new world as quickly as possible. He couldn't afford any delays in his mission.

Looking down at his sleeping sibling, Ed smiled again. There was no way he could fail. Al was counting on him. The Fullmetal Alchemist would destroy the homunculi and bring his little brother safely home, finally whole.

After a few more minutes of silence they pulled up to a small house. Ed glanced at it skeptically. "Are you sure this place is safe?"

"Positive." The man replied. "This is Buffy's house."

"Sorry, but who is this Buffy person you keep talking about?"

"Oh! How rude of us!" the redhead cried, stepping out of the car. "I'm Willow and this is Xander. The other woman from earlier is Buffy."

"Hm." Ed nodded, scooping up Alphonse and heading for the front door.

"You know in polite society when a person introduces themselves its good manners to introduce yourself back." Xander pointed out, although his words lacked any real venom.

The alchemist smirked. This guy, Xander, was all right. "I'm sure you guessed by all the shouting I did earlier that this is Alphonse, or Al." He gestured with his head at his unconscious brother. "And me? I'm Ed. Edward."

By the time he had tucked Al into a bed upstairs Buffy and a blonde man had arrived. They came into the room, and Ed managed to tear his eyes away from his brother to look at the Slayer. He turned too quickly. The fatigue from crossing the Gate, fighting for his life, and suddenly getting Al's body back hit him full force. Purple spots danced in front of his eyes and he managed a curse before crumpling into a messy heap on the floor. The last thing he remembered before losing consciousness were voices and the room spinning. Then nothing.


	3. Short Introductions

Not much to say this time except I'm really glad if you have decided to read this far. I love you very much and give you hugs across cyberspace. (The nice friendly kind, not the creeper stalker kind)

Reviews would be magical because I want to know what I'm doing wrong so I can fix it. Even if it's just a few words it would mean a lot to me.

I own nothing except my own wacky head-canons.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Three**

"**Short" Introductions**

Edward woke up in a strange room. In the half second it took for him to realize where he was and remember the events of… whenever he had last been awake, he sat up quickly. Too quickly. With a groan he fell back against the pillows. The world had done way too much spinning recently.

Al, he noticed, was not in the room. Panic swelled inside of him and he had to swallow it down. As soon as he could stand he would go find Al. They would figure out a game plan.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door opening. A girl, probably a little younger than him, came in with a tray of food. "Oh." The girl stared at him. "You're awake. I'm Dawn, by the way. I'm Buffy's little sister."

"Where is my brother?"

"He woke up just a few minutes ago. He keeps asking for you."

Ed sat up again, slowly this time, and started to stand.

"Wait! You should at least eat a little first!"

"Look kid, I don't have time for this-"

"Kid! I'm probably older than you! I'm sixteen!"

"Well whoop-de-doo, so am I." Ed started for the door. "Now take me to my brother or I will find him myself."

"He's in the next room," she sighed. "Will you at least eat in there?"

Already out the door, Ed didn't hear her. He burst into the room and pushed the people inside away until he was kneeling on the floor next to the bed where his brother lay. Alphonse's face lit up at the sight of him and cried, "Brother!" They hugged, and for a long moment the room was silent.

"Brother I woke up and I was all by myself and then all these people came in and they said you were still asleep and they wouldn't bring you here and I was really worried and everything feels, Ed, it actually feels isn't that-"

"I know, Al." Ed cut him short. "We will have this whole talk okay? Just not now. These people helped us and now we owe them answers. Equivalent exchange, right?" Edward grinned. "Do you remember what happened at the Gate?" Alphonse nodded. "All right, I'll do the talking. You just sit there and start getting your strength back."

"So what's the deal?" Buffy narrowed her eyes at the two. She clearly didn't trust them. That was good because Ed didn't trust her either.

"Ask away." Ed grabbed the tray of food offered to him by Dawn. "I'll answer what I can." He picked up the ham sandwich and handed it up to Al.

"Who are you exactly?"

"Edward Elric: Major in the National Armed Forces of Amestris and certified State Alchemist. My codename is the Fullmetal Alchemist."

The room was stunned. If only they could see the looks on their faces. This was clearly far from what they expected. Good. He had the upper hand now.

"I-I'm sorry, what?" An older gentleman stuttered, removing his glasses and wiping them on his pristine tweed jacket.

"I'm a Major in the National-"

"He heard you the first time, pipsqueak. What he's saying is what the bloody hell does that mean?"

Ed turned slowly to glare at the blonde haired rat-bastard who had been enough of an idiot to open his disgusting mouth and fill the room with his noxiousness. He could feel the veins in his forehead spasm and he clenched his teeth.

"What the hell did you just call me?"

"Problem, pipsqueak?"

"Spike, don't-" Buffy started, but Ed had already snapped.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M SO SHORT YOU COULDN'T EVEN USE ME AS A FOOTSTOOL?"

Fully ready to unleash his alchemical wrath upon this Spike bastard, Ed was stopped by a pair of frail arms wrapping around his waist. "Edward, stop! He didn't say anything like that!"

Ed forced his anger down for the sake of Al and glared frostily at the man who had dared to insult him. He was surprised when the man didn't wilt, but kept up the stare. He was known for his potent death-glare. This ended up making him angrier.

"Call me that again and you will regret it. I don't know how you have a soul even though you are one of those monster things-"

"You can tell Spike's a vampire?" the woman called Willow gasped.

Ed gave her a pointed look. "It's the eyes. Look, can we get back on topic here?"

"I believe you mentioned alchemy," the older man prompted. "I suppose you are referring to the ancient practice of changing lead into gold?"

"That particular act is illegal, but sort of yeah. Being a State Alchemist is more of a 'Be thou for the people' deal though."

"You're part of the government?"

"The military of Amestris, yes."

"Woah woah woah." Xander jumped in, "What's this country you keep mentioning? Amestris?"

"It's hard to explain," Al chimed in. Ed handed him his apple, which he ate.

Buffy crossed her arms and glared at the two. "I've saved the world quite a few times. It takes a lot to surprise me, a lot."

"We are form another world." Ed decided to just be blunt. "The Gate between realities has given us a mission to destroy a creature from our world that jumped into yours. If we don't destroy it the balance of the universe will be tipped and then things will get… let's just say that things will get ugly."

The people in the room exchanged glance, and seemed to come to a consensus. "Allrighty," Buffy announced for her team. "What's this big bad and how do we kill it?"

Ed was shocked. That was it? No fuss at all? He had expected them to laugh, to make him prove his crazy claims. They acted like he had just commented that his favorite color was red.

Willow noticed his confusion. "You have to understand, Ed, that this sort of thing's not unusual here. Sunnydale, that's the town we're in, is a hellmouth. Beings from other dimensions, mainly hell dimensions, are always showing up here."

"Oh." Ed added that to the list of ever-growing tidbits of information about this world.

"So what manner of creature are we facing?" the older man asked.

"Good question Giles," Xander added. "Are we talking demons of the slimy or scaly variety, or maybe spiky?"

"Neither. Probably." Ed added as an afterthought. "We aren't sure which homunculus is here, just that one of them is."

"Homunculus? An artificially created human?"

The alchemist laughed bitterly. "The homunculi are not human. They are monsters who just happen to seem like people. There are seven of them in total, each with different abilities, and one of them is here. I just hope for your sakes that it isn't Pride."

Alphonse shuddered at the name. "They are incredibly powerful and nearly impossible to kill. My brother has been trying to stop them along with a particular division of the military for a while now. They are smart-well- most of them are, and it probably already knows we are here."

"So step one is to figure out which homunculus is here and form a game plan around that."

"Exactly our plan," Ed nodded to Buffy. "Now I need as much information on this world as I can get, anything at all that could help. Actually, it would be easier to just read. Is there a library around here I could get this information from?"

The entire room burst into laughter. "Books!" Xander guffawed. "Oh man do we have books, eh Giles? More books than you could ever read through!"

"You'd be surprised," Ed smiled. "I'm quite the student when I want to be."


	4. A Spiky Situation

Sorry about the delays everyone. Summer just started and I've kind of done nothing about sleep. I will try to be better about that, but I do not promise scheduled updates. Thanks for reading!

Note: I've taken a little liberty here with Ed's military career. As a soldier, even if we don't see it in the series, I feel like Ed has probably had to fight in service of the State before. I feel like that was never closely examined in the series and I will be doing that here. Remember that it's a huge deal for him to be in the military at his age.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Four**

**A "Spiky" Situation**

Soon only Spike and Buffy were left, Giles promising to bring by some books very soon. Ed had a feeling the Watcher wouldn't bring enough. He glared at Spike. The man was a… vampire, that much had been confirmed. Ed could see the evil beast lurking in the man's eyes, but at the same time there was a definite soul in residence. The alchemist had seen enough soulless eyes to recognize them when he saw them.

"Can he be trusted?" the question was directed to the Slayer.

"I trust him with my life."

"Good." Ed turned to Alphonse. "Are you still hungry Al? You need to get yourself strong again."

"I'm fine, brother." Al waved his hand dismissively. "You fed me all of your lunch! The one who needs to eat is you."

"Aw, I'm okay Al. You can't even sit up by yourself."

"Just you wait, brother. I'm gonna start training so I can be strong again like before."

"I never could win against you, could I?" He was reminded of their sparring before the accident. Al, despite age, size, or body, had always had the upper hand in fighting.

"I don't mean to pry too much," Buffy started, "Because your business is your business. But what exactly happened to Al?"

Edward paled. "He- that is-"

"When you go through the Gate you have to offer up a toll." Alphonse cut his sibling off with a glance. "Just traveling to the Gate, the place between worlds, can cost you your life. I offered myself up as the toll before my brother could stop me. We both thought I was a goner-"

"I watched you disappear right in front of me. There was nothing I could do."

"But instead, the Gate just sapped my strength. I can get it back, though, with some hard work. Just need to put in the effort."

Ed pulled his brother close to him. "I'm so sorry Al. I'm so so sorry. I'll fix things."

"You already have, Ed. Look at me. I can feel again. I have a body Just worry about yourself now."

"Right, Al. We're halfway done with fixing things. Gotta keep going."

They were saying too much in front of these people. That was not smart. He did not want them to know about their past. Keeping the automail a secret seemed to be the safest course as well.

"Do you live here too?" Ed asked Spike. "Everyone else went home."

"NO!" Spike and Buffy both asserted before stumbling over each other verbally.

"It's the sunlight-"

"-makes vampires go poof-"

"-hallway windows-"

"-he kind of can't leave the room."

"Oh." Great. Mr. Fangs would be stuck in there with them. All. Day. Long.

"I'm not peachy about it either." Spike grumbled, sitting in the chair by the door. "And I might remind you," he glared at Buffy. "That it has been three days since I have eaten. You owe me."

"Ugh!" Buffy groaned. "One mug of blood coming up." And with that she left.

Ed grimaced. That was gross. Whose blood was it? Wait, no. He didn't want the answer to that.

Spike noticed his discomfort and grinned. "Bothered?"

"By how sad it is that you're stuck in this room getting fed out of a mug like a pet? More like highly amused."

"Someone has a sharp tongue."

"Afraid you can't keep up, old man?"

"I'd like to see you try, short stuff."

Dammit that crossed the line. Ed was off the bed and across the room in an instant. He brought his leg up into a perfect axe kick, slamming his boot down into the vampire's chest. The impact of Ed's automail hitting Spike shattered the chair beneath him, and the shocked vampire crashed to the floor.

"Shit!"

"Edward!"

"Take that you bastard!"

"What the hell is going on?" Buffy burst into the room.

"This crazy little-"

"Don't call me little!" Ed pulled back to deliver a follow-up punch, but was stopped by a strong grip on his arm. Good thing it was his real wrist Buffy was holding, despite the pain that racked up his arm at the tight grip. If she grabbed onto his automail she would know something was wrong.

"Whatever he said, he probably deserved it. But now is not the time to fight. And you broke my chair."

Buffy was very strong, almost like a homunculus, but not quite. It must have something to do with being the Slayer, whatever that meant. Ed wrenched his hand out of her grip and rubbed his wrist.

"I don't really care who you are or what world this is. I am an alchemist, one of the foremost in my field, and I will not tolerate disrespect from anyone. I'm sorry about the chair though. I'll fix it."

The Slayer looked dubiously at the pile of splinters littering the floor. Spike picked himself up off the floor, dusting off chips of wood. Edward smirked. Clapping his hands together in classic fashion, he could feel the alchemical formula coming straight to him. It was simple, really, to transmute the chair. He didn't even have to alter the materials, just put them back together. In a quick flash of blue light the chair was back and good as new.

"Wow." Buffy blinked and Ed smirked. He really did love it when people were awed by his alchemical prowess.

"Just a simple transmutation. Basic kindergarten alchemy."

That led to a quick crash course on how alchemy worked. Ed didn't get very detailed. This was partially because the Slayer wanted him to explain it again with everyone present, and partially because there was a lot about alchemy he had absolutely no intention to explain.

The instant Buffy left again Spike turned to Ed and sneered. "That was quite the lightshow there. Got a feeling your hiding something though, just a hunch. You don't live as long as I have by ignoring hunches."

Ed glared back, golden eyes flashing. He didn't trust this creature at all. He saw too much. "Maybe you should learn to mind your own damn business."

"Brother, you're getting riled up again." Edward sighed and went back over to the bed, sitting on it by his sibling.

"Sorry, Al. I'll try not to lose my temper again." He reached for Al's hand, but when he touched it his brother jumped. Ed snatched his hand back.

"Edward! Sorry! It just surprised me, that's all. I'm not used to- everything feels very- it wasn't your-" Alphonse brought his hand back to grasp his older brother's. His hand was so soft, Ed noticed, so new. He removed his left glove so that his brother could feel the warmth of his hand.

Alphonse smiled. It was the most wonderful thing Edward had ever seen in his life. The way the corners of his mouth turned up and his warm honey eyes twinkled sent a pang through Ed's hardened heart. There were moments; far too many as of late, when he had feared he would never see that glorious smile again. Or hold his little brother's hand and know that Al could feel it too. Al could cry, and eat, and touch, and sleep, and finally experience what it meant to be truly alive.

Seeing the pain and elation in his brother's expression, Alphonse gripped his sibling's hand tighter and frowned, asking a question without words.

"Thought I'd lost you again." His voice sounded a little rough from the emotion.

"I'm here," Alphonse whispered back.

"Again?" Spike's question cut through the room.

"None of your damn business!" Ed snapped. Shit. For a moment he had forgotten that the vampire was in the room with them. Dumb, amateur mistake! His brother's new form was consuming all of his thoughts and messing with his emotions. He could hardly think straight. Whacking himself on the head mentally, Ed vowed to be infinitely more carful around Spike in the future.

"You sure are a feisty one," Spike chuckled darkly. "Back in the good old days I would've had so much fun killing you slowly."

"Couldn't if you tried." The Fullmetal Alchemist scoffed.

"What do you mean by 'good old days' mister, um, mister Spike?" Polite as ever, Al fidgeted on the bed under the vampire's scrutiny.

"Back when I didn't have my soul."

Edward tried to jump up off the bed, but in his shock ended up slipping and falling to the floor. "Now hold on just a damn minute here! You can't just do that!"

"Do what?"

"Create a soul! That's impossible! There is no equivalency! Nothing can be enough—ever—to create a human soul! Even with magic there is no freaking way-"

"Try telling that to the little bit." Spike interrupted, tone caustic. "Besides, no one created a soul for me. I had one originally. Few hundred years ago I was human. Then I was turned into a vampire by this crazy bitch, Drusilla. Nutters that one is. Lost my soul and gained a demon inside me. Ran around that way for a long time: carvin' up people and drinking their blood, even killed me a couple of Slayers. But then I ran into this gang and they went and turned me soft. Long story short I got my soul back, bloody painful ordeal that was, and now I'm a good puppy what don't bite no more."

Edward got that look on his face that meant he was thinking very hard about alchemy: the intricate, uber-complex formulas and theories that made even the most advanced alchemists cringe and keel over with migraines. His eyes flickered around as he stared into space, gazing at phantom arrays and calculations that only existed in his head.

"What are you-"

"No use, he can't hear you." Alphonse sighed.

"Why not?"

"He's trying to figure out if what you said is alchemically possible or not based on his own experience and all the known theories on the transmutation of souls. From there he will create a new theory, possibly a formula and an array to go with it."

"Seriously? How difficult is that?"

"Well, for most alchemists, it takes years and years of research and experimentation to compile a working theory on any new transmutation, and then even longer to figure out a transmutation circle."

"A what circle?"

"Transmutation. My brother explained it earlier. You need one in order to transmute something."

"Right, right." Spike leaned back in his chair before abruptly sitting forward again. "No, wait. He fixed the chair just by clapping his hands together and touching it. How-"

"Like I said, my brother is not an ordinary alchemist. Edward is a certified genius of alchemy, and a prodigy at that. He has a very special ability, one that only a handful of other alchemists have. His knowledge and talent for performing alchemy are so advanced that he can use it without the aid of a transmutation circle."

"So he just claps his hands and-"

"Essentially, yes."

"Impressive."

"He gets that a lot."

"And how about you?"

"Me? What about me?" He grew nervous again and clutched at the sheets in front of him.

"Do you do alchemy?"

"Oh. Well yes I do, but I'm not a State Alchemist."

"Why not?"

"I'm just a kid. The military doesn't sign up children. Once again, Edward is a special exception. He is the youngest person to ever enlist in our military and pass the State Alchemists Exam."

"How old was he?" The vampire had relaxed back into his chair. His voice was quieter, and his question hung in the room for a few moments before Al decided to answer.

"Twelve."

"No."

"Yes."

Spike was standing now, angry. Al jumped in surprise at his sudden movement. "In the military? Did they ever make him fight? At his age?"

"Yes. We live in a country constantly at war. Ed did what he had to in service of the State for the two of us to achieve our goals."

"What about your parents?"

"Gone. Our father left us when I was too young to remember him, and our mother died when I was nine. Ed was ten."

Alphonse knew that Ed would be mad for saying so much, but for some reason he just felt like these things needed to be said. He felt it would help them. Edward never was a very trusting person. Granted, he had his reasons, and they were highly justified. But often Alphonse worried his brother was too cynical, too closed off. He refused to open up to anyone other than his brother. It wasn't healthy. They needed these peoples' help whether Ed liked it or not, and if they kept too many secrets they wouldn't get anywhere.

"Must have been hard for you." Spike started. It wasn't quite sympathy that Al heard in the vampire's voice, more like an understanding of pain.

"It was," he freely admitted. "But Ed and I take care of each other. He can be hot-headed at times and he doesn't really trust people, but that's only because he's trying to protect me so we can achieve our goal-"

Al closed his mouth so abruptly that his teeth clicked together and made his jaw sore. It took him a moment to talk again. "Sorry. I almost said too much. Classified military information." He was awed at the sudden realization that they had already achieved half of their goal. He wiggled his toes to remind himself that his body was still there and functioning.

"-adjust the blood seal to accommodate the seven point array from- no wait a thirteen point would hold it better and incorporate-" Ed muttered out loud all of the sudden. His hand waved in the air like he was writing, drawing and redrawing array configurations in his mind.

Alphonse spared his occupied brother a glance and found himself muttering out loud as well. "A thirteen point array? That's unprecedented! Would that really- oh! But if you- oh I see. Wait, but how would you account for-"

"I hate it when people start talking in magical mumbo jumbo."

Huffing, Al protested. "It's not magic. Alchemy is a science!"

"Whatever," Spike waved a hand in a display of apathy and sat back in the chair.

"Dammit!" the shout startled Al and he squeaked before turning to look at his brother.

"Ed?"

"That won't work." Ed growled, back to the land of the living. "I don't know enough about the transfer of the soul out of the body and how the demon gets placed in. That's the problem."

"How do you know it won't work?"

Edward sent a withering glance in Spike's direction. "I just do."

"Oh well," Alphonse interjected before they fought again. "It may have to do with the fact that the original transfer is magical in nature and bypasses equivalency."

"Yeah," Ed sighed. "My thoughts exactly."


	5. Friends

Oh my goodness! What is this? Two updates in one day? Jeez, I'm just on a roll here!

Hey guys! I've gotten some really great reviews and that makes me really happy. Just a little message about anything helps me keep up with the writing. This chapter is kind of short since the last one was so long. Enjoy!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Four**

**Friends**

Spike, Ed, and Al finally managed to lapse into a semi-companionable silence. Ed worked Alphonse's muscles, mainly the arms and legs, to help them circulate. They hadn't been used in years. It was a pretty painful ordeal for Al, who was still unused to feeling anything. The sharp protests of his muscles made him wince, but he shouldered it with a silent determination that could only belong to an Elric.

They did this for most of the afternoon while Spike slept, not daring to say anything in case he was listening in. At about five Dawn came up once again with a tray of food for the Elrics, and a mug of microwaved blood for Spike. She handed it over to him with only a small amount of disgust.

"How are you, Little Bit?" Spike asked her as she sat down in a chair next to him.

"I'm good. You missed it though. This guy in my math class got possessed by a demon and he ate the teacher right in the middle of a test. He was gonna eat us too, but Buffy stopped him. The guy is okay now, and we didn't have to finish the test! Great, right?"

Chuckling warmly, Spike replied with a nod and ruffled her hair. He was very different from the Spike from a moment ago. It was clear he had a paternal fondness for the girl.

"Is that kind of thing normal?" Ed wondered.

"Yeah! Life sure is fun on the Hellmouth!" Dawn chirped. "Every day is a blast. Or the end of the world."

"I'm just going to hope that was sarcasm."

"Well what's your school like?"

The Elrics laughed. "We don't go to school," Ed explained. "Dropped out when I was ten."

"I was nine." Al added. "Although we did become apprentices of Teacher for a year. But that was purely training in alchemy." The brothers shared a glance and shuddered at the memories of that long and arduous year. "But that was absolutely nothing like actual school."

"Wow, that's really different." Dawn admitted. "So do you just work as alchemists all the time?"

"Yeah, no time for silly stuff like friends or school." Edward grinned.

"Well, we do have some friends." Al corrected him. "Like Winry and Major Armstrong and Lt. Hawkeye and Colonel-"

"If you put that smug, egocentric bastard on that list I will punch you."

"Roy is our friend!" Al protested. "You just don't want to admit it."

Ed puffed up in indignation before quickly deflating. "Aw I can't punch you while you're like this. Wouldn't be fair."

"We have friends all over the country, but we don't ever get to see them because we travel to different military bases constantly. It would be nice to get to see Rose sometime. It's been years since we saw her."

"Who?"

"Don't play dumb, Ed. I know you remember her. She was one of the first friends we made when you had just started off as a State Alchemist."

"Are all of your friends in the military?" Dawn asked.

"Most of them," Al admitted.

"Except for Winry, but we grew up with her. Best mechanic in the world that one is. No matter how I mess it up she always manages to fix my- equipment. My alchemical equipment."

"Hahaha, Ed!" Al laughed a little too mechanically. "Yeah. Your equipment. Like machines and stuff. Your always breaking stuff, aren't you?"

"I'm uh, just too rough with it sometimes."

"Well if you weren't always getting yourself into fights-"

"Me? What about you, Big Guy?" Ed clapped a hand over his mouth. Big Guy. It had just slipped out. Al was not a big guy anymore. At least Ed hadn't called him a hunk of metal. There was no way to get out of that one.

"I need to go to the bathroom!" Al declared quickly.

"Here, Al! I'll help you! You still can't walk by yourself!"

They retreated as quickly as Al's handicap would allow and shared a look of distress in the hallway. The crisis was averted. For now.


	6. Secret Scooby Meeting

Not much to say this time. If you have any theories or guesses or comments I would love you to send me a review. They fuel my muse fire.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Six**

**Secret Scooby Meeting**

That night while the alchemist were sleeping, (They fell asleep together in Al's bed) the "Scooby Gang" held a secret meeting.

Spike rolled his eyes, but stayed quiet as Buffy and Giles went over everything they knew so far about the strange boys upstairs. At least he wasn't cooped up in that room with them anymore. That sure was a box of kittens wrapped up in sunshine and rainbows. If they were demonic kittens who spewed fire and eviscerated people, that is.

The vampire smirked to himself. That was pretty good. He would have to write that one down. It was something he had always done, even as a human, writing down his best little thoughts or some of the particularly witty things he would say. Some of them were rather beautiful really, a bit on the macabre side more often than not, but beautiful still. At least he thought so. Sometimes, if the mood struck him, he would even turn some of them into poems. Not that he would ever let anyone else read them. Oh no. if anyone ever found his hidden poetry he would simply have to gut them. Too often they turned into mushy love poems about a certain infuriating blonde Slayer. His reputation would be utterly shot.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that the Elrics were not lying, but at the same time they were holding back a lot.

"I don't trust them a bit," Xander declared. Oh so surprising.

"Instances of travelers from other worlds are uncommon, but they do happen." Giles pushed up his glasses. "I've done a little research today."

"Yeah but what are they really doing here, huh?" Xander continued. "The older one is hiding something. I don't like it one bit."

"They're just so young." Willow supplied. "And they were sent her to fight monsters?"

"I was their age when I started fighting."

"Yeah but Buffy, they aren't the Slayer."

"Alphonse seems so fragile. We can't let him try to fight."

"They need to tell us what's going on so we can stop this thing before they hurt themselves."

"So young-"

"-inexperienced-"

"-get them to talk-"

"-hiding secrets-"

"-weak and-"

"OI! SHUT IT!" Spike couldn't take it anymore. They room grew quiet and all eyes turned to him. "Look," he started. "We don't know what those boys have been through. We don't know anything about them, not really. You know what I do know? That boy is a soldier in a country constantly at war. He has most likely seen and done things you couldn't even imagine. He also happens to be a genius, his brother too. You weren't there when they started calculating if they could put a soul into a vampire using alchemy. If there are things they aren't telling us, it's probably for our own bloody good. They will tell us what we need to know and we should be glad they tell us that much. Something happened to those boys to make them as closed off as they are. Respect that."

"Wow Spike, that was rather deep of you. Who knew you had a bit of a heart beneath all of that bullshit?" Xander was always ready with an insult.

"I may be an insufferable prick, but I'm not evil anymore." He huffed in reply.

"Spike is right," Willow added. "I think that maybe we should put a little more faith in them. At any rate, I'll try to cast a spell to sniff out this new monster." She stood and got her things together to leave.

"I brought some of the books tonight, but I'll be back in the morning with more. Perhaps Edward will want to go over some of the volumes with me." Giles said before he departed as well, leaving the tomes on the coffee table.

As Xander was about to leave, Edward appeared at the bottom of the stairs. His braid was a little messy from sleeping but he was fully dressed from the gloves on his hands to the boots on his feet.

He gave Spike, Xander, and Buffy a quick glance before moving to the coffee table and retrieving the books. It took a lot of effort for Spike to repress the laughter that threatened to spill from his lips. That cheeky little bastard. This was his way of letting him know that he had been listening in the whole time. He tried to march past them and back up the stairs, but Xander grabbed hold of his left arm.

"What are you hiding?"

The look in those golden eyes could make hell freeze over. Xander started nervously and let go of the boy's arm.

"I'll have these back by morning," Ed murmured before disappearing up into the blackness of the stairwell.

"Those eyes," Spike sighed. "He's been through the Gate all right."

"What? Why didn't you say something sooner?" Xander nearly yelled.

"I wasn't certain, and I really only just remembered when he gave you that look." Spike bit back. "It was a long time ago. I was barely a new vampire. Drusilla was doing some business with a trans-dimensional demon and I tagged along like a good little puppy. I wasn't paying all that much attention but she asked it how its trip through the Gate had been, and then they both shared these horrified little whispers about it. I couldn't hear much, but Drusilla looked deeply disturbed by this Gate thing. The demon had that same hollow kind of look in his eyes. Like he'd been to hell even demons can't stand and had to crawl back out again."

"Crawling out of hell? Looks like we have something in common." She said it so it sounded like she was strong, like it didn't bother her anymore. But Spike knew the truth. Her eyes betrayed her as well. She was still haunted, and it broke Spike's heart all over again that there was nothing he could do. He had lost that chance. He had never earned it in the first place.

He left with Xander and went back to his crypt before he did anything stupid. He could feel a poem forming in the back of his mind, but he let it go. There wasn't anything beautiful about Buffy's pain. Not anymore. He wasn't that demon anymore. Some nights he had to remind himself of that. He would go home and burn up those poems, the dark ones about her. That would be good, right? Even though she would never see them anyway, destroying them would lift a darkness off Spike's own heart. If he had one. Which he didn't. Oh bollocks.


	7. Books and Breakfast

Reviews are food! Drop a line! As always I own nothing. This is fanfiction so obviously.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Seven**

**Books and Breakfast**

As soon as the sun came up the next morning Edward woke Alphonse. It had been a long night of reading for him. He hadn't had much light to read by, not wanting to disturb his slumbering brother, and now his eyes hurt. He needed caffeine in a bad way.

"Brother?" Alphonse sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning. His hair was sticking up in every direction.

"Man, Al. That's quite the bedhead you've got there."

"Hm?" Alphonse felt the top of his head. "Oh. It's sticking up all funny"

"Sleep well?"

Al's face scrunched up in confusion. "I'm not sure," he admitted. "I had a really hard time getting to sleep because it felt really weird. I don't remember what sleeping was like before, but I don't think I dreamed about anything. Is that okay?"

"Totally normal," he assured his little brother. "One step at a time, Al."

His brother noticed the stack of books. "Edward, did you stay up all night reading those?"

"Don't look at me like that. I'm fine, great actually." His body betrayed him then with a long yawn. "Come on Al, we did this all the time. I learned a lot about this world. Magic is an underground thing here. Most people don't know it exists at all."

"Well then I'd better catch up" Al reached for a book but couldn't quite grab it. Ed handed it to him with a smile. "I'll see if anyone is up. You need breakfast."

"Make sure you eat something too this time." Al muttered before losing himself in a book titled _The History of Magics for the Novice_.

Before leaving the room, Ed checked his appearance in the small mirror above the dresser. His hair was still pretty messy, but all of his automail was covered. As he clomped down the stairs he pulled his hair out of the tangled braid and let the golden locks fall down around his shoulders. He would bother with taming it later.

Dawn was up and rifling around in the kitchen when Edward peeked in. "Oh!" She gave a start when she saw him. "Um, good morning Edward." She glanced down at her pajamas, pink with kittens on them, and blushed. "Did you sleep well?"

"Ed."

"Huh?" She fidgeted with the coffee pot as she tried to pour some of its contents into a mug.

"Call me Ed."

"Okay, um, Ed." She nearly knocked over her mug and squeaked when a little hot coffee spilled on her finger.

Cocking an eyebrow at her behavior, he chalked it up to being a girl. "And actually I didn't sleep, too bust reading."

"All night?" She handed the coffee pot and a mug to him before filling her own with sugar and cream.

Ed poured the steaming liquid into the mug before replying. "I have a lot to catch up on. There's so much I don't know about this world."

"So how many did you read? Book I mean." She took a large gulp of her coffee.

"All of them. About ten in total I guess." Ed shrugged and downed the mug of coffee straight black. That was exactly what he needed. The heat and caffeine shocked him into a warm state.

"Ten books?" Dawn cried in astonishment.

"Yeah. I'm a fast reader." Ed helped himself to a second cup. "What do we have in the way of food around here?"

"I was gonna make some toast. We also have some apples. There's also some milk and cereal."

"Blech! Milk is gross." Grabbing up a couple of apples and a second mug of coffee for his brother, he started to head out of the kitchen. He had too large of a load though, and nearly dropped everything.

"Here, let me help." Dawn offered. She took an apple and a mug from him. He nodded his thanks and they headed up the stairs.

"Why do you wear gloves inside?" Dawn wondered aloud in the stairwell. "It's just that no one wears glove anymore, like ever."

"They're part of the uniform." Edward stalled. "I just feel better with them on." That wasn't going to be enough for her, was it? "I… I also have a scar. On my right hand. There was an… accident. No. A mistake. I made a mistake. Alchemy can be really dangerous. Anyway it's pretty shocking and I just don't take them off, okay?"

He could tell that he had really just made things worse. Now she wanted to see the scar, the curiosity was clear on her face. Too bad for her. These people had no right to know about his past sins, and he had no right to know theirs. She would just have to suffer with her curiosity.

The two of them found Al a good way into the first book. Ed snatched it away, replacing it with an apple and a mug of coffee.

"I think that maybe I could try walking today. I feel much stronger than yesterday."

"Are you sure, Al? It might be tough to walk again. You should take all the time you need to get stronger, starting with getting enough rest."

"Agh! This tastes horrible!" Choking on his coffee, Al took a big bite of his apple to wash out the bitterness coating his tongue.

"Gah! Sorry, Al! I made it black without really thinking about it."

The doorbell rang and Dawn rushed to answer it.

Ed wasted none of their alone time, speaking in a hushed tone. "Is your body really all right? It's stable? Your soul bonded to your body properly?"

"Yes. What about you?"

"Still the Fullmetal Alchemist, little brother."

"That's not fair! We-"

"No time," Ed urged. "I'm working on a new theory based on my work with your blood seal, Giles' books, and what Spike told me. If I'm right about this there might be a way to-"

His words came to an abrupt halt when the door handle turned open with a click. In came Giles with a large stack of books.

"I-I hope this isn't too overwhelming, but I brought some more volumes," with a grunt he placed them on the nightstand and readjusted his glasses. "For you to peruse, if you would like."

"Great. I already finished the others. Did you bring any of those Watchers Journal things?" Ed bounded over to the stack.

"Yes actually- pardon. Did you say finished? As in, finished?"

"As in finished." Picking up the volume in question he headed back to his seat on the bed. His apple went untouched as he dived into the book. While absorbing the contents of the volume he was only barely aware of the things in the room around him. Giles voicing his surprise, probably at how fast he read. Alphonse explaining.

The Elrics took speed reading to a whole new level. He thought it might have something to do with hereditary traits from their bastard of a father as well as a "gift" from the Gate. Ed could read several lines of text at the same time and internalize and comprehend them in moments. It always freaked people out, but he found it surprisingly handy. Oh. The Watcher was trying to talk to him. Oops.

"Hm? Sorry."

"I was asking for your opinion on the works you've read so far."

"Very interesting. I don't think it's a coincidence we were sent to a Hellmouth."

"I was thinking the same thing." Giles agreed with scholarly excitement, once again pushing up his glasses. "We are standing on a hub of mystical energy. There is a good chance you were drawn here by unknown forces."

"Let's just hope the homunculus was drawn here too." Edward sighed.

"Can you tell me a bit more about these homunculi? Anything that could be helpful?"

"For starters, it's next to impossible to kill them." Ed took Al's discarded mug and downed the contents. He could understand why Al disliked it. When he was little Alphonse had always like sweet things. Ed always drank it black because it was easier that way, just a quick way to shoot his system full of caffeine. "They have an undetermined number of lives stored inside of them. You have to kill them hundreds or possibly thousands of times before they actually die. They also regenerate very quickly. We've never been able to fully kill one, but we know that it's possible. I almost had one once."

"Well that's… not what I was hoping to hear." Giles admitted. "So these homunculi are really that powerful?"

"Yeah. We are lucky they are split up. That will make things easier."

They discussed battle strategies for a while. Giles and Edward got along quite well. They fell into a deep conversation regarding the contents of the books Ed had read the previous night. Al tuned them out in favor of his own reading. The hours flew by, and before they knew it they had gone through twenty two books.


	8. Steps

This chapter is really short, and I could have made it longer, but I ran out of time and I wanted to get it put up tonight. I hope you still like my story if you've made it this far. Let me know by leaving a few words in a review!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Eight**

**Steps**

Several days passed, and the Elrics fell into a routine. Giles came over in the mornings and the three of them read. In the afternoons Ed and Al worked on getting the younger Elric's strength back.

It was hard. He had to relearn everything. Walking standing, using his arms, it was all brand new. Rushing was not an option, despite the obvious time crunch. There was a homunculus on the loose after all. Every day spent getting Al into proper shape was a day the homunculus gained.

Al cried the first time he tried to walk. It was partly because of the pain, but mostly because it was so emotional for him to finally take his first few steps on his own. Ed would never admit it, but he cried just a little bit too.

His thin little legs were so wobbly and unsure. He was afraid that the tiniest amount of pressure would just snap them like a toothpick. But Al wasn't made of glass, no matter what Ed thought. Gritting his teeth past the pain, Al forced his body to work, step after agonizing step, before collapsing into a chair on the other side of the room. Ed would wipe the sweat from his little brother's brow, help him shakily stand back up, and then they would start all over again.

Watching his brother struggle was painful for Ed. Every gasp of pain and exhausted groan drove another needle into his heart. But whenever he suggested they stop before he was overwhelmed by the pain, Al would turn those calm golden eyes to him, filled with a fiery yet silent determination, and they would keep going.

Buffy often came up to their room with reports of monster sightings and lists of killings from the news. Lots of them were vague deaths, mainly disappearances without bodies found, and could be caused by anything. None of the victims had been attacked by anything that screamed the work of a particular homunculus. At least it wasn't running around and wreaking havoc. Yet.

At night while Al slept, Ed worked on his new alchemical theory, which was hard to do without any of his books or resources. He borrowed a notebook from Dawn as well as a pencil so he could write everything down. It was all heavily coded, of course. The code was one of his own designs; only he and Al could crack it. They had secretly tested it out on the Colonel.

On the fourth day Willow came over. She and Al became fast friends when she brought him a tray of chocolate chip cookies. When she first told them she was a witch, Ed grew rather nervous. Magic, he was learning, was a very powerful thing. But after only a few minutes he found that the charming woman was impossible to dislike.

She offered to do a spell, one that would heal faster. Ed had to consult Giles and several magic books before he was okay with the idea. It was a simple spell, just help with the sore muscles and help remove some of the fatigue from the training. Willow would concoct the spell which would be in the form of a little bag that Al would sleep with under his pillow. Ed agreed on the condition that he got to watch her work your magic.


	9. With Great Power

Hey Everyone! I've been busy putting in new floors at my parent's house, and buying everything I need for college, so I haven't had a lot of time to type, but here it is! Willow and Ed get pretty emotional here, sorry if it seems weird. The scene just sort of wrote itself. Reviews, as always, fuel my muse.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Nine**

**With Great Power**

"So now that all of the ingredients are mixed together, I just pour them into the bag and place it in the center of the circle of salt." Willow explained to a fascinated Edward. When that was done she lit the three white candles surrounding the circle.

He had been studying the principles behind magic for the past several days now; and he already had an intermediate grasp of the theory involved. This was a rather simple spell. Getting to witness magic first hand would not only aid his current working theory, but help his brother as well. He needed Spike to come over again so he could ask him more about how he regained his soul. If he could do that with alchemy-

"-now I begin the chanting. Are you familiar with Latin?"

"No." Ed was pulled out of his musings by Willow's explanation. "Never heard of it."

"I was wondering about that, why we speak the same language. Our worlds are so different-"

"-so our languages should be too." Ed finished for her. "I'm guessing that it's a trans-dimensional travel thing. Makes it easier for everyone, you know?"

Willow nodded, and then became focused. She began to speak in a language that Ed didn't understand. The room dropped several degrees in temperature in a matter of seconds. With all of his years of training, it was hard to accept that what he was seeing was actual magic. He felt the hair on his arms stand on end, and Willow's hair floated up from where it rested on her shoulders and waved, suspended above her head. The bag began to glow.

Then, as soon as everything had begun, it was over. The chanting ceased, the room returned to its normal temperature. Her hair fell back to her shoulders with a light thump.

"There! All done!" she chirped.

"That's it? I was half expecting a blood sacrifice."

"Oh, nah. Those are for the more complicated spells."

Ed stared at her in shock.

"I'm joking." She assured him. "There are spells like that though, but they are pretty dark stuff. Bad bad mojo. Those of us on the side of good steer clear of that stuff."

"It's the same with alchemy." Ed rubbed his left knee where the automail port met with his flesh. It was often sore. "But it's hard, isn't it? Knowing that power is there, as long as you are willing to pay the price for it."

Willow shuddered. "Believe me, I've felt that way. Once, I gave in to it. Worst mistake of my life. I thought I was willing to pay the price that kind of magic requires, there was no way it would affect me, I was too smart, too powerful. That choice haunts me every day. I'm terrified I'll give in again, that I won't be able to stop myself."

"That's what lets you know that you're human, it's the guilt. And the fear. That's how you know you won't do it again. Ever."

She understood. The struggle. Inside of him. The price knowledge cost, and the heavy lure it carried. That tempting little urge at the back of his senses to step beyond what was human, what was moral, all in the name of science. Power came with such a rush, regardless of the danger. No matter how much he hated the Gate, regretted his decisions, despised himself for being so stupid, he would never get the feeling of the Truth soaring through his mind. That made him hate himself that much more.

Warmth suddenly enveloped him. He didn't realize it at first, but it was a hug. Willow was hugging him. What should he do? Floundering for a moment, he settled for gently placing his hands on her shoulders.

Her words were a rush and Ed could barely follow them. "They always tell me that they forgive me, that it isn't my fault. But it is! I almost killed everyone! I chose to cast dark magic. I let the power consume me. It's my fault and it hurts me every day. I miss her so much! It kills me inside, every second. Why isn't she here with me? She should be. Why can't I just bring her back to me? I have all this power and it still doesn't help! Sometimes, it's just too much!"

By now she was sobbing helplessly into Ed's shoulder. The young alchemist had no earthly idea what to do. Winry was the only girl he had any experience with, and when she started to cry she hit him on the head with a wrench.

"It's going to be alright?" he tried. That was what people normally said in these situations, right?

Wrong thing to say. She began to sob harder. Good thing she was clutching onto his flesh arm. He needed to stop this touchy feely thing before she grabbed his other arm and felt hard metal through the jacket.

"Okay, I lied. It's not going to be alright."

"What?" She sniffed, sitting up.

"That's the real truth. People tell you that they understand. They say it will get easier, better, less painful in time. Maybe it will. But I promise you that every time you think about what you did, you will feel just like you do now. You are right, you made a mistake. And guess what? You have to live with that. Pain of that magnitude is the price we pay for our sins. The only thing you can do is to keep moving forward. I don't see any fatal injuries anywhere on you. You've got a pair of arms and a good set of legs. Get up and use them. You can never change what you did, but you can keep going. Pay for your mistakes by bearing that pain and doing everything you can to atone. Even though that pain will be with you every day, you have to get up and walk. There is nothing else you can do. Nothing."

He trailed off. It was like he was talking to a younger version of himself, trying to get him to manage to live through another day. He was lucky. He had a goal: to get his brother not only a body but a normal life, and to get his arm and leg back. This girl kept going to honor her friends.

Getting to his feet, he sighed. "It seems we have quite a bit in common, Willow. Tell you what, if I can keep going, so can you. Find a reason, a new one every day if you have to. The worst thing you can do is give up. That's what the universe wants you to do, believe me I know. Every moment you survive is flipping the bird to everything that holds you down. Don't let it win until you've given it every last molecule of fight you have. Only then can you die honorably."

He picked up the little back and pocketed it. "Thanks for the spell, Willow. Al will really appreciate it. He isn't like us, he's pure and naïve. No matter how many awful things happen to us, somehow he still manages to stay in the light. My brother is my reason, Willow. Look hard and you will find yours."

She tried to say something through her tears, but only managed a distressed hiccup. Ed left, heading back upstairs to his brother. Willow did not see it, but a single tear shined down the side of his face.

It took her a long to time to calm down and stop crying, but she did. It was even harder to stand back up. But Ed was right. She had a good pair of legs. It was time to use them.


	10. Stairs

Whoo! Chapter ten! Wow! I'm so happy to have made it this far. Sorry about the weird sporadic updates, but I write all of my stuff out by hand before typing it up, and with that I'm about six chapters ahead from where we are now in the story. Hope you guys still like it!

Sorry if the timeline the boys are on seems weird, but there is a lot of information in the series they don't know about till later so I just sort of consolidated it. It just worked better for character development and stuff.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Ten**

**Stairs**

The next morning found Alphonse in the highest of high spirits. Apparently, the spell had worked its magic. He very nearly sprang up from his bed. Before his muscles had been sore, and the fatigue of nights without sleeping well had taken their toll on him, but all of that was gone now.

Ed was out cold, face planted on the open notebook. A small puddle of drool pooled on the bottom left corner, smearing the ink onto his face. He hadn't slept in days. Al smiled and let him be, his big brother deserved some rest.

Feeling independent with his newfound energy, Al set off for the kitchen on his own. Walking at an easy pace was natural now, and he made it to the top of the stairs without issue.

There weren't that many stairs, not really. Twelve little steeps, he counted, that was it. He could do this. Ed didn't think he was ready for stairs, but he wasn't letting Alphonse really push himself. This was his chance to show his brother that he wasn't made of glass.

One step at a time, he decided. Grabbing firmly onto the rail, Alphonse took a deep breath and focused on moving his right leg. Up, then down, down gently, to the first step. Shift his weight down on the foot a little. He wobbled a bit, knees shaking at the distribution of weight. Leaning heavily on the rail, he stabilized. This wasn't so bad. The left leg followed with just as much care until he stood on the first step. Right again, grip the rail, and then the left. He was actually doing it! It was a little exhausting, but he was making it down the stairs on his own. Five more steps. No problem. Right leg, grab the rail and-

"Whoah!" Thunk thunk thunk! His leg slipped from beneath him and slid down the carpet steps. Luckily he had a firm grip on the railing and didn't go sliding down with his leg. Instead he fell back onto the step he was standing on with a thud. His tailbone was a little sore, but he was okay.

"Please tell me no one saw that," he groaned out loud.

"Sorry to disappoint you." The voice came from behind him, and he squeaked.

"Oh. Buffy. You scared me."

"I sometimes have that effect on people." She smiled and adjusted her faded pink bathrobe. "You need some help?"

Al struggled to pull himself back up, but only resulted in sliding down another step. "Yeah, kinda." He smiled shyly.

"No problem." She climbed down the steps, hauled him up, continued down the stairs, and into the kitchen before setting him down on a stool.

"You don't have to do that much for me." He mumbled. "I can walk."

"But you need breakfast." The Slayer reasoned. "So you can get your strength back, 'cause I'm not helping you on the way back up." She poured herself a cup of coffee and made him a glass of milk.

"How are you, Al?"

"Much better now. Miss Willow's spell-"

"That's not what I mean." Her gaze pierced him from across the kitchen.

Al stared in confusion. "I don't know what you-"

"Are you covering for him?"

"Covering? I don't-"

"I know you love him, Al. He is your brother after all. But did he do this to you?"

"What? No!"

"Because he sure seems to be sorry about something."

"You don't understand-"

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing!"

"Was it for his research? For alchemy?"

"How dare you even think-"

"I just want to help you-"

"You can help by leaving it alone!" his hands slammed against the countertop. "I know that none of this makes sense to you but you just have to trust me that the state I am in now is a good thing. It's so wonderful I can hardly believe it. My brother and I are on a journey to fix a mistake we made a long time ago. Ed doesn't think I have any blame in any of the things that have happened to us. He put all of it on himself, but we are equally at fault. That's why he apologizes all the time. At the Gate, I gave up everything so we could fix things, and now, I am slowly getting it back." His breathing was hard and his head spun from standing so suddenly.

They were both silent for a moment before Al spoke again. "I'm sorry I blew up like that. People always assume things about my brother and it makes me angry. He really is a good person. He would never hurt me, ever. Not even unintentionally."

"No, Al, I'm sorry." Buffy sighed. "I just had to be sure. That wasn't very nice of me. I'm glad that you are okay."

"Alphonse? Al!" It was Edward yelling from the bedroom.

"I'm down here, Ed!" Al rolled his eyes and called out.

"Wow. He's kind of overprotective."

"Tell me about it. And he's the one always busting up his- busting himself up."

They heard feet pounding down the stairs. Ed skidded into the kitchen. His hair had fallen out of its customary braid and was sticking out at odd angles. Al had to suppress a giggle. Part of Ed's notes were tattooed onto the side of his face. There was a practice array along with some indecipherable scribbles.

"I woke up and you were gone!" Wild golden eyes scanned his body for any sign of injury.

"You haven't slept well and I didn't want to wake you up."

"How did you get down here?"

Al blushed. "Well, um-"

"I found him down here just a minute ago." Buffy cut in. "He made it down here just fine."

"That's dangerous, Al. What if you had fallen?"

"I'm not going to break, brother."

"Yeah, I know." Ed sighed and ran a hand through tangled locks.

"Even then you babied me."

"Well you-"

"I'm never going to get better it I never try, Edward."

"Why are you always right?" Ed sighed. "Fine, big guy, we will step up your training." He poured himself a mug of coffee and downed it.

"It's beautiful, by the way." Al turned to Buffy.

"What?"

"Your house. I've only been in the guest room this whole time so I haven't really seen your house yet, but it's a nice place. It feels homey."

"Um thanks, I guess."

"It reminds me of Lieutenant Colonel- I mean, Brigadier General Hughes' home."

Buffy and Al both jump when the mug Ed had been holding in his right hand shattered. Little shards of ceramic scattered all over the countertop.

"Are you alright?" Buffy looked concerned.

"Yeah," Ed bit out, letting the rest of the mug join the other broken pieces. "I'm going out for a walk." He stormed out the back door, hopped the back fence, and was gone.

"Edward!" Al called, but it was too late. He was gone.

"What's wrong?"

"Mr. Hughes is- was- a very dear friend of ours. He died- was killed by- a homunculus. Envy. His death was very hard on everyone, especially Ed and the Colonel. I just forgot for a moment that- that he was gone. It's still fresh for everyone. Your home just reminds me of his in Central. His wife and daughter are still there. I-I miss them a lot. And him." He sniffed. He was doing an awful lot of crying lately.

Buffy reached out and put a hand on top of his. "I'm sorry for your loss. It never gets easier to lose people you care about. The pain it brings shocks me every time."

With those words she left him, and Al sat at the kitchen counter for a long time, staring at nothing, and wishing that the hole in his heart wasn't so damn painful.


	11. Painful Musings

Hello hello hello! Glad you are still with me! This is one of my favorite things to write: angsty characters having deep brooding sessions. Reviews are lovely wonderful creatures that feed this stingy little muse of mine. On to the story!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Eleven**

**Painful Musings**

Ed needed air, and lots of it. He passed a trashcan on the sidewalk and lashed out, kicking it hard. The clang of metal on metal was audible despite the muffling from his boot. The poor trashcan sailed through the air and landed with a loud and satisfying crash.

He hated the homunculi. He hated the Gate. He hated God. He hated the universe. He hated himself. If only he could just find the damn homunculus and be done with it. But it couldn't be that easy. And what if he did find it? How the hell would he kill it? Maybe if he perfected his theory- but it was incomplete. He was missing something crucial, the true nature of the transmutation itself.

"Why do you hate me so damn much?!" he shouted out into the midmorning air. No reply. Not really all that surprising.

How dare that bastard let himself get killed! Didn't he know his daughter needed him? That Al needed him? That he needed him?

He would destroy Envy when he got his hands on that rotten, overconfident, androgynous piece of shit. A darker part of him, the part he liked to pretend didn't exist, hoped that Envy was here so he could try his new theory on the bastard before it was perfected. That would sure-as-hell be painful.

Shuddering and picking up his pace, he shook such morbid thoughts from his head. Something about Envy had always rubbed him the wrong way, even before he found out about Hughes' murder.

The sunlight felt good on his face. It had been too long since he had gone outside. Even though it was midmorning still, it was getting pretty hot. Ed was now regretting his choice of clothing. Tank top, long sleeved shirt, jacket and gloves. But when he took off his jacket his automail was visible through the thin material of the white shirt.

He had to be really careful while fighting if he was going to keep his automail a secret. Things always had a habit of ripping up his jacket, or tearing up his leg. If his automail got messed up without Winry around to fix it, what would he do? Winry would kill him if he ever got back, even if his automail was fine. She would hit him over the head with a wrench, dismantle his arm and leg, and then skin him alive. Then she would cry, and that was the worst.

"Stupid, rotten, no good females." Ed muttered. "They make no sense."

He was feeling a lot better now. Being in that house for days had made him more irritable than usual. Fresh air and sunlight had done wonders for his attitude, and he was itching to train. Maybe he would ask Buffy to let him tag along for her nightly patrol and get some experience fighting vampires. If it was one of the smarter homunculi here, they were probably making alliances with the creatures already lurking in Sunnydale.

More information. He needed more information. And Al needed more time to recover or he was going to have to fly solo on this one.

Edward rounded the block and found himself back at Buffy's house. He hopped the back fence again and went in through the kitchen. Al was still in there, along with Dawn, and they were laughing and eating toast.

"Oh! Hi, Ed!" Why did Dawn always blush when he came into the room? Ed supposed it was just one of those weird girl things. "Um, you kind of have something on your face."

"Huh?"

Al giggled, it was a charming sound that filled the kitchen with warmth. "You fell asleep on your notes, brother. There's an array printed on your cheek."

"What?" Ed rubbed at his face. "Shit!"

Dawn and Al burst into laughter. "And your hair! It's so funny!"

"Shut up!" he shouted, but he was smiling. "Fine! Laugh it up! I'm gonna take a shower." He marched up the stairs, still grinning. When he got to the bathroom he made sure to grab a towel before going in. After locking the door he let out a sigh.

Peeling off his dirty clothes, he realized he had been wearing the same clothes since he had arrived in this strange world. They smelled pretty bad. He decided procuring a new shirt and pair of pants was now high priority.

Staring at his reflection in the mirror before him, he realized why Al was trying to get him to eat all the time. It wasn't very often that he had the luxury of seeing his own reflection. He was always on the move, so his grooming habits were not the best.

Dark circles clung beneath his strange golden eyes. He was so skinny. Under the muscles from his training he could tell that he hadn't eaten well in at least a week. Scars were splashed here and there all across his torso. He rubbed at the inky smudge plastered to his face but just succeeded in smearing it further across his face.

There was no way he could fight off a homunculus. Not in this state, anyway. He would die. IT was time to rethink his priorities.

Showering was awesome. The hot water felt amazing on his tired body. He used whatever fruity stuff in the bottles was, deciding that smelling was better than smelling disgusting. He had to put on his old clothes, but that was all right. He would ask Dawn about clothes, for both Al and himself. Poor Al was still walking around in an old pair of Xander's pajamas.

Instead of going to talk to Dawn though, he found his feet shuffling into the guest room, and his body falling onto the bed. Soon he was asleep.


	12. Somnus

Hello everybody! Another chapter! I promise we are getting around to the plot soon. Sorry my update schedule resembles a three-year-old's crayon scribbles. Reviews make me happy and make my hands fly across the keys. They also let me know that you care. Which would be nice. Do people care? Love me please! Cries for acknowledgement aside, I hope you like this chapter!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Twelve**

**Somnus**

Ed slept until dinner. He actually ate, much to the delight of his brother, and spent the rest of his evening working out in the backyard.

His routine was pretty solid, and he found he was in better shape than he anticipated. The forms flowed easily from years of practice, drilled into him by Teacher. Kicks and punches, breathing and stretching. He hardly had to think about it. It was just natural.

Fighting a homunculus would be difficult without the use of his automail blade, but explaining how he had lost an arm and a leg would be even worse.

"Looks good," Buffy appeared next to him and began to run through her routine. She moved with the deadly grace of a panther and the precision of a viper.

"Same to you." He moved on to some of his more acrobatic forms starting with a series of back somersaults. People always likened him to a monkey. It ticked him off but he understood the reasons behind the comparison. Agile and flexible were perfect words to describe him. Dodging away by any means necessary was his forte. Fighting with homunculi had taught him that. One single hit from them was powerful enough to kill.

"Wow! You're just like-"

"-A monkey? Yeah I get that a lot."

"That's pretty cool, though."

"I guess. Best method to use when you don't have super strength." He rolled into a handstand.

She threw a few kicks into the air. "Yeah. I just hit things until they don't hit back."

"Effective?"

"Most of the time."

They practiced in silence for a while, lost in the comfortable rhythms of their routines. It wasn't until they were in their finishing stretches that Buffy invited him out for the following night's patrol. He accepted before heading back upstairs, fully intending to work on his theory. Instead he found himself crawling into bed with Al.

"Are you gonna sleep, Ed?" Al sounded terribly pleased.

"Yeah, I figured I should be a better role model for you. Sleep is important, you know." They snuggled down into the covers. Ed removed his shoes, but kept his socks and everything else on. Not the best for sleeping, but it was better to play it safe.

"How long does it take for you to fall asleep?" Al whispered after Ed had turned off the light.

"Between ten and twenty minutes. Are you still having trouble sleeping?"

"Mmhhm." He whimpered.

"Oh Al, it's okay. You'll get the hang of it."

"Sleeping is scary. Everything starts to disappear like I'm back at the Gate." Al shuddered. "The other night I had a dream, a nightmare. I was in the armor and I was strapped to a table. Pride was there. He kept stabbing me over and over and telling me to stop screaming because it shouldn't hurt and I shouldn't be able to feel because I was just a hunk of metal but it hurt so m-much Ed, and I was so sc-scared." His voice trembled on the verge of tears.

"Sssshh. It's all okay now." Ed soothed. "We all have bad dreams. But you have to sleep. I bet you'll have a really good dream tonight. Just you wait, Al. I'm right here. If you wake up from a bad dream I'll be right beside you, all right? Don't worry. Sleep is a natural thing."

"Mmk."

Ed waited to fall asleep until his brother's breath evened out and he was lightly snoring. He didn't tell Al that he was terrified of sleeping too. He almost always had nightmares. That was why he normally worked until he was too tired to move before he let himself rest. Too tired to move meant too tired to dream. With the horrors of his past hovering just below the surface, he let sleep envelope him.

Something wasn't right. Hovering between the realm of sleep and awakeness, Ed was aware of a sound. An eerie sound. The sound of something slicing through metal. There was a sudden loss of weight in his right shoulder.

"Shit!" He tried to leap out of the bed, but was pinned down by something sharp piercing into the side of his torso and burying into the mattress. Pain seared through his side and he gasped, legs kicking wildly as the weight of a body loomed down onto him.

"Hello, Fullmetal."

He would know those deep, slow, sultry tones anywhere. "Lust!"

"I wouldn't move if I were you." He could make out her face in the darkness now, eyes glowing with sick amusement. "We don't want to wake up poor precious Alphonse, now would we?"

Ed stayed silent, his whole being screaming at him, begging him to jump into action and save his little brother.

"Too bad about your arm." She chuckled. "But I can't have you performing alchemy, now can I?"

"What do you want?" he breathed, pain seeping through his side.

"Ah ah ah," she chided. Her other hand flashed over Alphonse, inches from his slumbering face. "Your job is to stay nice and quiet. If brother dearest wakes I'll just have to kill him, so try not to scream." She leaned down and licked the side of his neck. "Although I do love it when the scream."

Revulsion shot through him and he tried not to retch. She twisted the finger in his side and he gripped the bed sheets with his remaining hand, doing his best not to writhe. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from crying out.

"Very good, Fullmetal."

The next finger pierced into his left shoulder. Then his collarbone. Then his right thigh. His body was racked by spasms. The pain was nearly intolerable, his nerves lit aflame like as his body tried to cope and failed. It took every last ounce of strength the alchemist possessed to keep back the screams that threatened to rip from his throat.

Sweat and blood covered the sheets, and yet Al slept on. At least Ed had that.

Then Lust lost it. She murmured something, but Ed couldn't make it out through the pain and the hammering of his own heart in his ears. An earsplitting screech left her lips before she bit down on his neck and tore out the hunk of flesh under her teeth.

His scream was one of pure, soul-crushing agony.

"Edward! Edward!"

Ed woke up. Holy shit. It was a dream. He had just been dreaming. Just a dream.

The room was full of people: Buffy, Dawn, Giles, and Willow.

"We were having a meeting downstairs when we heard you screaming." The young witch explained. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Bad dream. Sorry."

"Brother, was it-"

"No Al, it wasn't."

"Oh."

"Well I guess it's good you're up anyway. Found a body last night. Thought it might be your homunculus' work." Buffy sighed.

"How was it killed?"

"Stabbed."

"With what appear to be ten very long, very sharp claws." Giles elaborated.

Now everything made sense. "Of course!" he shouted. "Lust! That's why- in my dream she was attacking me! I must have known somehow-"

"Hellmouth will do that to you," Buffy agreed. "So Lust, is it? We've got a name. Now we just need a plan."


	13. Patrol

Hey guys! Sorry, the ending of the last chapter cut off a few sentences. It was really late when I was typing it up and I guess I just forgot the last paragraph. It didn't really say anything new so I'm not gonna add it cause that's a hassle but I just wanted to apologize for the abrupt cut-off there. So anyway. I have just gotten settled into college so I have no idea how this is going to affect my update schedule. (hahaha that's funny cause there is no schedule.) I hope you guys like where this is going!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Thirteen**

**Patrol**

That night was Edward's first patrol. It felt great to get out of that house. Al had complained and insisted that he be allowed to join in, and had been promptly ignored by everyone. He was now sulking back at the house and giving Ed the silent treatment. Edward could live with that over the potential of having a dead brother.

Just a basic patrol in the park, Buffy had said. They would find at least find one "vamp", as Buffy put it, possibly several. They were also on the lookout for Lust, or signs of her activities.

The park was dark and nearly deserted at night, the perfect place for vampires. The stillness was eerie, far from the urban rumble of Central and nothing like the peaceful quiet of Resembool. This was a silence that reeked of underhandedness, of evil things lurking in the shadows.

Buffy moved through the route with the ease gained from years of practice. She knew all the dark corners and checked each one with professional swiftness. They didn't say much, not because they didn't want to lose their focus, but because there simply wasn't much to say.

Their first encounter was a close call with a couple making out on a park bench. Buffy and he scared the poor kids' half to death, and ended up retreating with a handful of apologies.

"Did you see their face?" Buffy guffawed when they were out of earshot.

"Yeah. Does that happen to you often? Catching people out here like that, I mean."

"That's who the vamps are usually out here looking for."

"Hmm."

"Are you- are you embarrassed?"

"N-no!" his cheeks felt like they were on fire.

"You are! What? Don't you have a girl back home?"

"Definitely not." He shoved his hands into his coat and sped up.

"That's not what Al said."

Edward froze in his tracks.

"Sorry, that was a little too personal. Your brother made it sound like-"

"No. It's just um, well, complicated. I don't ever have time to- and I'm always facing some new danger. I've purposely kept her at arm's length for so long. It's going to be hard enough when I finally don't miraculously survive something without us having a proper- you know."

"That's pretty pessimistic." Buffy sighed.

"Don't tell me you've never done the same thing, Buffy, pushed away someone to keep them out of harm's way."

"And I learned that it doesn't- oops hold up!"

A group of vampires charged the pair.

Six of them, Ed counted. The first was felled by Buffy with a quick roundhouse and staking. The alchemist lost track of her as two vampires charged him. The first ate automail with a solid punch. He vaulted over the second, smashing the vampires' heads together. A third tried to grab him, but he slipped under its legs.

Poof! It was a pile of dust and he smirked at the chunk of wood he'd had ready up his sleeve. The other two were on him once again. It would be so easy to do a simple transmutation and slice their heads off with an automail blade. No, focus. Stake.

He flipped one over his back, the next one he kicked. First, to the jaw, and then to the back. That one was staked as well. But there was a problem. No poof. What the hell? The creature stumbled up and gave him a fangy grin. Damn, missed the heart.

Air rocketed out of his lungs and he nearly left the ground from the force of the punch delivered to his stomach. Seems the first vampire was up as well.

No stake. Two vampires. Shit! He needed-

The Fullmetal Alchemist grinned. Locating what he needed, he dive rolled out of the way. He came up with a tree at his back. Hopefully the vampires were dumb enough to follow him. They were.

Plants certainly weren't his forte, but it should work. The formula blazed in his palms as he clapped them together. Touching the tree, he hit the deck. Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud! Ed looked up and saw the vampires stare at him, impaled by the large spikes protruding from the tree before they vanished into dust.

"Cool alchemy." The Slayer brushed vampire dust off of her flowery top.

"Not my best work by far." He grimaced at the crudeness of the wooden protrusions. They were ugly and chunky with splinters sticking out everywhere. "I'm better with stone and metal, never been good with plants."

"Can you make it go back?"

"Sure." With a clap of his hands the tree was back to normal.

"Three vamps on your first patrol! Good work, Ed."

"Should we keep going?"

"Naw." She gave him a pat on the right shoulder and he tensed up. Don't notice don't notice don't notice. "We're good for the night I think." Whew. Still safe. It was getting harder to keep his secrets secret.

When they got home they found Dawn and Alphonse playing poker with Spike.

"No kittens, I promise!" Spike shouted at the sight of Buffy.

"No money this time either!" Dawn added. "Just friendly poker!"

Edward scowled. "Alphonse Elric I see that transmutation circle under the table!"

"No! Ed! It isn't what it looks like!"

"You cheatin', mate?"

"Well you were stacking the deck!"

"Both of you were cheating?" Dawn was practically shrieking.

"Would you look at the time-"

"-getting awful late-"

"-should be going-"

"-time for bed-"

"I'm going to kill both of you!"

Spike leapt over the coffee table and bolted for the door, nearly bowling Ed and Buffy over. Al floundered as he tried to leap from the couch but fell flat on his face. The enraged Summers girl dived for him, but there was a flash of alchemy. A large hand consisting of carpet lifted Al into the air and up to the ceiling. He drew a quick chalk diagram and disappeared through the hole he created. The hole closed neatly behind him, and he was gone.

"Ugh! No wonder I was losing so much. Those- those- those-"

"Big stinky heads?" Buffy supplied.

"Big, fat stinky heads."


	14. Scuffle

So I want you guys to know that we are making our way towards the finale. Do not fret though because this is only part one. I am making plans as I speak, with the help of one Mr. Finstermunker for the next stretch of our story (He's been so kind as to help set up the stage and political climate for the Elrics' next venture) which I am excited to inform you will be taking place in the universe of Firefly. If another of Joss Whedon's masterpieces is not really your cup of tea I hope you will give the next segment a go anyway, and if you have never heard of this elusive "Firefly" I speak of I urge you to seek it out immediately, especially if you are already a huge Buffy fan. Thanks so much you guys!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Fourteen**

**Scuffle**

The next morning Willow called to report another stabbing like the one before. Buffy decided it was time to call another "Scooby Meeting" to order. Ed assumed this was just her weird slang for a group meeting.

At the meeting, Ed and Al went over everything they knew about Lust and her weaknesses. The best plan they could come up with so far was just ambushing her and killing her until she stayed down for good.

Ed considered telling them about the formula he was working on, but decided to stay silent. There was a huge, fundamental part missing. Maybe what he was trying to do really was impossible.

"What we need to do is find out where she is." Willow frowned.

"There has to have been some movement in the underground since she arrived. Something kicked out of its lair or monsters getting recruited, right?"

"Good point Xander, maybe it's time we paid a visit to Willy."

"Who?"

"Willy runs this bar for demons and other people or things of supernatural inclinations." Xander explained. "He's also a wussy little snitch."

"Ah," Ed knew the type. They were everywhere. "Works both sides."

"With the right encouragement." Buffy agreed.

"Bribes?"

She laughed. "Sort of. He tells me what I want to know and I don't break his nose."

"Nice! Can I come?" Al pitched in.

"No." Ed was firm. "What if something happened to you? Besides, you can't fight yet-"

"And what if Lust bursts through that window in a minute, huh Ed? You know she could find us at any time."

"Please don't jinx us," Buffy whined. "That window is really tough to replace."

Ed got an idea. "Tell you what, Al. If you can get one hit in on me, I'll let you come."

As soon as the words left his mouth Al struck, aiming a punch at his face. Ed deflected it and rolled from the couch, over the coffee table, and landed on the other side in a fighting stance.

"Whoa!"

"That was-"

"-so fast-"

"-not in the house-"

Pushing past Xander to swing another punch and kick, Al went for his sibling at full force. Both were dodged with ease. "Not trying hard enough!" He went in for a leg sweep, but Ed jumped it and avoided the follow-up punch.

"Dammit Ed!"

"Too slow, Al!"

It was clear that Al was getting tired. The flurry of hits grew sloppy and less frequent. Ed didn't even have to block anymore, just swing his weight back and forth to dodge the wild flails. Then the hitting stopped all together.

Grinning in triumph, Edward scoffed. "See, Al? If you're already tired there's no way you could-"

The punch connected with his jaw on the left and hit with enough force to know him sideways. The Fullmetal Alchemist turned, holding his jaw, to stare at his younger brother in shock and disbelief.

"Let your guard down, Edward?"

That smug little bastard was grinning at him. He'd pretended to be tired on purpose so Ed would let his guard down. What a low blow!

"Got me there you cheeky little-"

"Are you okay, Ed?" Dawn was up and at his side, checking for bruising.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It wasn't a full-force hit, but it was a punch none-the-less. You win, Al. Get ready to go."

It was time to play the game and finally take action. It was time to start holding up their end of the bargain.


	15. Bar Fight

Thanks to all of my new followers! It's great to have you on board. Send a couple kind words my way, or send me angry passionate demands for an update. Both are appreciated! I have to say I have written and re-written this chapter more times than I can count, and finally decided to just stop before I killed it, and go ahead and post it. I know this was supposed to go up Sunday morning and I'm sorry that it didn't.

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Fifteen**

**Bar Fight**

Willy's was like every other shady bar Ed had ever had the immense pleasure of setting foot in. The place reeked of alcohol and cigarette smoke as well as that unnamable, musty nastiness that seemed to cling to all places of ill repute. It was a Friday night so the place was rather packed. More than half of the inhabitants looked like humans, but Ed didn't let that fool him.

Buffy led them in with Ed bringing up the rear. He recognized some of the demons from pictures in Giles' books. Three Chaos Demons, a few Lesser Demons, and an ugly thing with spikes all over is back were his main concerns. There were a large number of vampires as well. This could get pretty nasty. The four of them were well armed, but Ed couldn't stop worrying about his brother. What if he got hurt?

"Slayer!" The alchemist couldn't tell who shouted it, but now all eyes were upon them. At first all of the bar patrons remained still as the Slayer and her companions made their way to the bar. About halfway across the room, however, the creatures began a mass exodus for the door. Only less than a third of the crowd remained. Unfortunately these appeared to be the tougher-looking creatures.

Buffy made her way straight to the barkeep, a rather weasel-like excuse for a man who was sweating profusely at her approach.

"Hey Buffy! Long time no see. What uh brings you to my clean, respectable, up-to-nothing-shady establishment?"

She grabbed him by the collar and hauled him over the bar. He made a squealing noise that sounded more swine than human and flailed about. Flashing him an evil grin she replied, "Come on, let's have us a little chat in the back." And dragged him, feebly struggling, into the back room.

Spike leaned over the bar and pulled out two bottles and a glass. He poured the first bottle, full of blood, into the glass, and then added some of the second glass. Some sort of vampire mixed drink, Ed supposed. The bloodsucker chugged in down, sighing in satisfaction before filling the glass up again.

"Spike," It was another vampire. "Thought we'd made it clear you aren't welcome here." He was flanked by several other vampires and a skinny demon with purple skin. Ed leaned back against the bar and watched them with cold eyes.

"Well maybe I just don't give a damn." Spike spat back. "Mess with me, mess with the Slayer, Gordon."

The vampire, Gordon, hissed. "Oh sorry Spike. The pet can't leave without its master, can it? At first I thought that she was the bitch, but it seems you've already got that spot filled, don't you? Get outta here."

"But leave the appetizers eh?" the demon's voice was gravelly and his hungry red eyes sized up the Elric brothers.

Time to quit observing, Ed decided. "Sorry, but I don't think you'd find me very tasty. I've got some bits that might get stuck in your teeth. Barely any flesh on me at all."

One of the other vampires spoke up. "Kid's right. He's pretty-"

"Wouldn't finish that sentence if I were you mate." Spike drawled.

The demon did though. "Tiny? That's all righ-"

Crash!

In the calmness that accompanies true, seething rage, Edward grabbed the nearest bottle of alcohol, swung it in a swift backhand, and shattered it against the demon's unsuspecting face.

"Oh bollocks."

The demon's roar of outrage was drowned out by Ed's tirade.

"I AM NOT SMALL YOU DISGUSTING PIECE OF SEWER FILTH I'M GONNA RIP YOUR OFFENDING MOUTH OFF OF YOUR SORRY EXCUSE FOR A FACE AND FEED IT TO YOUR OTHER BIG MOUTHED BUDDY OVER THERE BEFORE I SHOVE YOUR STUPID PURPLE HEAD RIGHT UP HIS-"

The rest of it was lost as all hell broke loose and everything happened at once. Spike grabbed the lead vampire and flipped him over the bar. Al pulled out a stake and dived out of the way. Ed leaned to the left to avoid the swinging fist of the demon. He lost Spike in the confusion, but managed to keep an eye on Al, who face facing off a vampire a few feet away from his own struggle. The alchemist grabbed a hold of the bar and used it to haul both of his legs up high enough to plant them on the demon's chest. Pushing off, he sent the creature flying back. He used the momentum the spring forward and land a punch in the demon's gut.

If that hadn't been his automail arm, he would be on the floor clutching some broken knuckles. This demon had some tough skin, and was quickly up again. It hissed before diving for Ed again. The momentum and weight placement was perfect, and shifting his own body lined him up for a perfect throw. With a bend of the knees and a push, he sent the demon flying into a couple of vampires that were heading towards Al.

Edward spared a moment of his own concentration to check on his brother. What he saw made him so proud, and relieved some of his fears. Al really had always been the best fighter of the two. A growing pile of dust was kicked up by his footwork as he danced around the group of vampires who had joined the fray. His fighting style was different now that he didn't have the advantage of being a giant suit of armor. It was just as effective though, more graceful and elegant to the eye. He twisted around the hits sent his way, and staked two more vampires with lighting quickness.

Looking away was a big mistake. Arms grabbed him a vice-grip and Ed flailed, trying to kick out at his assailant. He was lifted so his feet couldn't reach the ground. The vampire held him with inhuman strength, and leaned in with that disgusting face they made, going for his exposed neck. Panicking, he threw his head back, lucky when the back of his skull collided into the vampire's nose with a sick crunch. It still held him, but he got his feet onto the ground. Perfect. Executing a backflip and using the vampire's body as a cushion was child's play. He whipped out a stake from his jacket and dusted the thing. Great, one down. Now where did the demon go?

Out of the frying pan. A clawed, purple demon hand grabbed his left hand and smashed him into the ground with a flip of its own. Ed felt as his body fell forward but his arm didn't, and cried out when his shoulder dislocated. He hit the ground with a thud that shocked all of the air out of his lungs and he struggled to get his arm back, really just making it worse. Flop! His useless arm landed on the ground before he was picked up by the back of his collar and once more hauled into the air.

Being face to face with a demon was not pleasant. Its breath was disgusting and Ed felt bile rise in the back of his throat. He was clearly running out of options. Sparing a glance to the bar showed that Spike was far too busy with his own brawl to pay attention to Ed's fight. This was risky, but what else could he do?

"Gotcha shorty." The demon gloated. "You are gonna be tasty."

Okay now this son of a bitch was going down hard.

"Too bad you got the wrong arm pal." The Fullmetal Alchemist grinned in pained triumph as he clapped his two hands together, barely managing to slide his injured arm across his automail one. In a flash of blue light, the demon's red eyes widened in disbelief and horror. Then its head wobbled, and fell off of its shoulders. The body followed and Ed somehow landed on his feet, fixing the blade back into his arm with another painful clap of his hands.

"Ed!" Said alchemist turned in shock at his name in time to watch a vampire turn to dust inches from his face. Behind the pile of vampire was his younger brother, grinning at him. "You all right, brother?"

"I will be. Just a dislocated shoulder."

"That was risky, Ed!" Al hissed at him. "What if someone had seen?"

"No one did, though." Ed hissed right back. "See? Totally fine." He raised his right hand up to demonstrate this, and then yelped as he noticed the tattered remains of his glove showed off his shiny metal fingers.

"What the hell is that?" Spike's voice sounded behind them, and Ed turned in horror to see the vampire gazing in shock at his automail hand.

"Well fuck."


	16. Explanations

Hello guys! How are you feeling about that cliff-hanger there? Not exactly my style but I couldn't resist, I suppose. Oh boy! More excessive amount of dialogue! Can you tell that I'm a playwriting major yet? Well enough of my blabbing. You guys probably don't even read this part. On to the story!

**Welcome to Hell: Chapter Sixteen**

**Explanations**

Spike saw his automail hand. Spike was seeing his automail hand. What the hell were they going to do?

"Now Spike," Al's voice was soothing, calm. His eyes weren't though. He was ready to strike. Even though the fight was over, it was clear the vampire was still in battle-mode.

"I asked you a question. Why the hell is your hand metal?" Spike snarled at the Elrics, still riled up from the fight.

Ed backed away from the vampire. "It's okay, Spike. I can explain everything." Buffy was going to walk back in there any minute now, and then everything would be over. They had to contain this, there had to be a way. Maybe they could just explain to Spike-

"I knew there was more you were hiding. What happened to your hand? Is all of it metal? Is all of you metal? No wonder you never-"

"Spike, please!" Al took a step towards him. That was a mistake, and he jumped back when the fangs came out in a snarl.

"It's my arm." Ed stated. "I lost it in an accident. My leg too. I can explain it all to you in more detail. But please, not right now. It's- I don't want the others- please don't tell Buffy-"

"You will tell me everything!" Spike glared at the brothers. "But later." He conceded. "Better hide that before she comes back."

Ed pulled off the tattered remains of his glove, found a few shreds of extra cloth, and alchemized a brand new glove. Just as he slipped it over his hand, Buffy came out of the back room and surveyed the destruction that was wreaked on the bar.

"Wow. Seems you guys had quite the adventure."

"Certainly did. Learned all kinds of new things."

Ed held his breath. Don't tell her. Don't tell her. Don't tell her.

Spike didn't continue that train of thought, just leaving it as a jab at Ed, choosing to instead turn to Al. "Those are some wicked moves you've got there. Especially for someone who's been so sick."

"I honestly have no idea where all of that came from." Alphonse admitted, blushing. "All of the sudden, I just knew how to fight again. It's been a while since I've needed hand-to-hand combat. I feel great, now. Totally healthy."

"Good, because we are going to have one hell of a fight on our hands." Buffy sighed. "Looks like our homunculus has taken over the southern half of the sewers beneath Sunnydale. She's drove out or killed everything that was down there, including some pretty nasty demons even I don't want to mess with."

They left the bar and began the walk back to Buffy's house. Spike walked directly behind Ed. He could feel the vampire's presence, and it kept setting off warning bells in his head. Then a hand fell on his shoulder. The automail one. Bastard was doing it on purpose. Might as well get this over with.

"Hey, you two go ahead." Edward told Al and Buffy. "I need to ask Spike some more questions that pertain to the alchemical theory I'm working on. We'll only be a few minutes."

Al turned and looked at Spike with distrust clear in his eyes. "Are you sure, Ed?"

"Positive."

Ed watched with apprehension as the two walked away, and Spike beckoned him into an alleyway. He knew Spike would want to see. They always wanted to see. Some morbid part of the human brain always wanted to experience the horror and shock to truly comprehend that his arm was missing. They had to see the proof. Without any prelude, he pulled off his glove, shrugged off his coat, and began unbuttoning his shirt. With that off, he exposed his torso to the vampire, letting him gawk at his automail arm.

"I never would have guessed."

"Hell yeah you wouldn't. I have the best automail mechanic in the world."

"What happened?" Now came the pity. He could see it form in the vampire's eyes. It was an odd emotion to see on Spike's face, but somehow it wasn't that bizarre. Just from his observations, the vampire seemed to experience emotion on a greater level than most people.

"I told you. There was an accident."

"What kind of accident?" Spike ground out, losing patience.

Ed looked away from those strange eyes that housed a demon and a soul. "Alchemy is a dangerous science. Things go wrong. Young boys get cocky and think they can do things without fully understanding what they are getting themselves into. I messed up. I lost my right arm and left leg. I had my broken body patched up. I still had my brother to take care of."

"What did you do?"

"It doesn't matter what I did! It's done!" Anger washed over him. "But believe me when I say I know exactly how dangerous what I do is. I'm reminded of it every time I move." He shifted his automail shoulder in demonstration, clenching his fists.

"I can't believe you're hiding this from everyone. Why?"

"Because it's none of your damn business! So I'm lacking some flesh! I can still fight and I can still perform alchemy, better even thanks to my automail, so why does it matter? My automail is the highest grade in the world. The fact that I have it is a military secret for security purposes. I hide it every day. It gives me a tactical advantage. You don't need to know about it."

"And yet you expect us to trust you? With secrets like that?"

"Like you've told me everything!" Ed shouted. This was getting out of hand. "I sure as hell don't know what Willow did, but every time she talks about or casts magic, every one of you looks scared. And what happened to Buffy? She has the same pain in her eyes that I carry, and I have seen and done things that would destroy most people and leave them empty shells. Why are all of you so careful with Dawn? Everyone goes out of their way to protect her, to reassure her that all of you want her there."

"You leave the Little Bit out of this."

"See? That's how Al and I feel. You have your secrets, we have ours. That's not going to change. It's up to you whether or not everyone else knows. What are you going to do?" Ed donned his clothes again and stood in the alleyway, watching Spike deliberate with himself.

"I'll keep it." Spike sighed in resignation. "For now. But if at any time I decide it's important that the others know about this, and I give you the word, you have to tell them. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

Like he really had another choice. "Fine. I'm done talking about this." He turned to leave.

"Edward. Whatever happened to you, you probably didn't deserve it. Not at that young. I'm sorry you got such a bad hand dealt to you."

It took all of his will power not to turn around and scream his frustrations at the vampire. But he didn't understand just how much his words hurt. It was his fault. He deserved so much more than a missing arm and leg. He'd lost his brother. He'd destroyed Al's chances of ever getting to grow up and be normal. It was all his fault and no one understood that. And no one ever would.

"Do you forgive yourself for the things you did when you were taken over by the vampire?" Turning to look at the broken expression on Spike's face told him exactly what he needed to know. "I didn't think so. Come on, we've got a homunculus to kill. Then all of you won't ever have to deal with us again."

They spent the walk in complete silence, Ed lost in dark memories. The sooner they came up with a plan of attack the better. Keeping all of these secrets was just getting too difficult. They needed to strike, now, before whatever Lust was planning came to pass.

It didn't make sense. Why was she isolating herself? What could that possibly gain her? Lust was normally the type to manipulate pawns into doing everything for her, only taking matters into her own hands as a last resort. Her movements just didn't make sense. Whatever was going on, it was bad, and Ed had to stop her, stop all of the homunculi, at any cost. He wouldn't let the Gate have Al again. That was absolutely unacceptable. Lust was going down.


End file.
